Apraxia

The Cognitive side of motor control

Georg Goldenberg

Includes illustations of clinical observations on apraxia, providing the reader with a lively image of what apraxia looks like and helping them to diagnose it

Written by a leading authority in the field of apraxia, resulting in a book that offers profound insights into this condition

In addition to discussing apraxia, also explores related topics like intermanual conflict, kinematic abnormalities of movements, or apraxia in left-handers. This gives the reader a comprehensive reference to all aspects of apraxia.

Relates largely unknown or forgotten historical contributions to apraxia, helping the reader to understand contemporary definitions, classification and theories of apraxia in their wider historical context.

Apraxia

The Cognitive side of motor control

Georg Goldenberg

Description

Apraxia is a symptom of cerebral lesions that has puzzled clinicians and researchers for some 100 years. It has engendered many fascinating descriptions and a wide diversity of conflicting theoretical accounts.

This book is the first one that gives a comprehensive account of clinical and experimental findings on all manifestations of apraxia as well as of the history and the philosophical underpinning of theories on apraxia. The review of contemporary evidence is illustrated with vivid descriptions of clinical examples. The historical part reveals early precursors of the concept of apraxia in the last third of 19th century and resuscitates contributions made in the "holistic" era in the mid 20th century that have now largely fallen in oblivion. They show that the richness of ideas on apraxia is much greater than some modern authors would acknowledge.

Over and beyond giving an overview of history and clinical appearance of apraxia the book explores the philosophical fundaments that underlie definitions, classifications, and theories of apraxia. Goldenberg argues that they are ultimately grounded in a mind versus body dichotomy that appears as opposition between high and low or, respectively, cognitive and motor levels of action control. By relating history and modern evidence to perennial philosophical problems the book transgresses the topic of apraxia and touches the fundaments of cognitive neuroscience.

This book will make fascinating reading for those in the fields of neuroscience, neurology, neuropsychology, and developmental psychology

Apraxia

The Cognitive side of motor control

Georg Goldenberg

Table of Contents

1. Apraxia before Liepmann: Mind-Palsy, Asymbolia, and Apraxia2. Hugo Karl Liepmann3. The decline of diagrams4. Return of the ostracised5. High and Low Levels of Action Control6. Imitation: A direct route from vision to action?7. Body part specificity8. Use of single tools9. Naturalistic action10. Communicative Gestures - Pantomime of Tool Use11. Communicating with Gestures12. Apraxia in left handers13. Approaching apraxia from the motor side14. Callosal apraxia and intermanual conflict15. The cognitive side of motor control16. Levels of therapy

Apraxia

The Cognitive side of motor control

Georg Goldenberg

Author Information

Professor Goldenberg studied medicine and was trained as a neurologist in Vienna. After stages in Aachen and Paris he was habilitated with a thesis on the neurological basis of mental visual images in 1986. Since 1995 he has been Director of the Department of Neuropsychology at Bogenhausen Hospital and Professor at the Technical University of Munich. Goldenberg also served as Chairman of the German Society for Aphasia Research and Treatment and is associate editor of core journals in neuropsychology and neurological rehabilitation. He has published more than 200 scientific papers in international journals and about 50 book chapters. He is author of a popular German textbook on clinical neuropsychology and co-editor of German and English books on Clinical Neuropsychology.

Apraxia

The Cognitive side of motor control

Georg Goldenberg

Reviews and Awards

"The historical overview that begins the book is a more than a trip down memory lane; it lays the foundation for the early years of research on apraxia and allows readers to look over the shoulders, in a sense, of those researchers. The book progresses through subsequent studies that challenged and revised early concepts. There are some simple, clear illustrations that help readers visualize the types of behavioral impairment, and neuroimaging films with color plates for some of the functional studies. The coverage of the literature is excellent throughout and the inclusion of information about apraxia in left-handers and callosal apraxia is helpful. A pleasing combination of clinical storytelling in the vein of Oliver Sacks and scholarly review, this book is sure to appeal to students and early career clinicians interested in apraxia." -Christopher J Graver, Doody's Health Sciences Book Review